reporting from the cabin over wright patterson air force base, dayton, ohio. this aircraft is executing a maneuver to make it and everyone in it temporarily weightless. this weightless condition is one of many that man must learn to tolerate or overcome to survive a first trip to the moon. cronkite was the perfect person for space because he was a space junkie. he ended up covering the early mercury missions and he just became encyclopedic on it. what are the hazards and what are scientists doing to ensure man s survival in the hostile environment of outer space? that is our story. first man on the moon. as the prudential insurance company of america presents the 20th century. this is marine lieutenant colonel john h. glenn jr., who within a few days will be the first american to fly in an orbit around the world. we re embarking on a completely new field here, space science, and i m happy and proud
that i can maybe contribute a little bit in my own way in this new field. john glenn came along next and flew the first orbital flight for an american. to us, that was a huge deal because now we had an american hero who could at least stand up to yuri gagarin. godspeed, john glenn. three, two, one. this is mercury control. the spacecraft is committed to its third orbit. looks good. we ll see you back.
real good-looking flight from what we ve seen. rog. all right, boy. shortly before he is supposed to reenter the atmosphere, the word comes there is a possibility that glenn s heat shield has detached from the base of the capsule. go ahead. we have decided to reenter with the tank on. what is the reason for this? do you have any reason, over? the only thing holding the heat shield on are three straps, which are attached to the retro rockets. we feel it s safer to reenter with the retro package on, over? roger. understand. so normally, the plan is you fire the retro rockets and let them go but now it becomes clear that if glenn does that he might be burned alive. he went through this period of intense ion buildup where you lose contact with him. this is cape, do you read, over? this is cape, do you read, over? hello, mercury recovery, this is friendship seven, do you read me? read you loud and clear, how
are you doing? that was a real fire ball, boy. i express the great happiness and thanksgiving all of us that glenn has completed his trip. i know this is particularly felt by mrs. glenn and his two children. it was quite a day. i don t know what you say about a day in which you ve seen four beautiful sunsets in one day, but it was pretty interesting. now we know russia need not and will not have monopoly on manned space flight. a new spirit has ariz nen u.s. missile men and in our capital. owl of the growing pains of project mercury a host of new projects will be born. you could have gone ahead faster if you had more money earlier, is that right? well, this is true. although, there are some limitations. there is an old saying, it takes nine months to have a baby. [ laughter ]
down there, especially at night, the lights as you look around the word are amazing. write that up, will you? 1963 john glenn appeared on meet the press and spoke about what the space program meant to him and the world. i can t even begin to pinpoint what we may run into or what may prove of most benefit but i think man s participation in this guarantees one thing, if we can see things, foresee them, analyze them and relate them back to our experiences here, this is the main thing that man brings to the program. he can see things, new things that now are completely unforeseen or unknown. this to me is probably what s going to be the biggest advantage of having a man in the space program, things that we don t even foresee right now. how did i remember when we finally turned the corner, the damn soviets, they re getting all the sputnik, finally he goes up there and we re back in the race.